Saturday, 12 March 2016

Although this blog post is partly about him, I really put his name as the heading to draw attention to this. This applies to other sports stars as well who might not be mentioned here.
The real subject matter is sports stars who've lifted the spirit of the nation. After Conor's disappointing loss to Nate Diaz someone wisely posted on social media how he lifted the spirit of the nation and now was the time for his fans to remind him how we still feel and lift his spirits.
I was watching Ireland comprehensively beat Italy in the 6 Nations rugby today and when the result became a foregone conclusion my mind drifted while watching the match. Then I remembered how the rugby team won the grand slam at the trough of the recession. On the same day Bernard Dunne became world champion in boxing. Bernard is a fitness coach with Dublin football team and so, as All-Ireland champions, he is still at the pinnacle of sport. So the support is easier to find in that situation.
Our rugby team, and Joe Schmit need to be forgiven (for want of a better phrase) for not doing so well this year and indeed need our praise and support even more so this year considering the injuries, retirements and other setbacks they've experienced. Not that they lack the support. The fans still show up at the games and are brilliant like that. Anyway the victory today shows the level they're still at with a fully fit squad.
So we can't expect victory over every opponent and we should celebrate a sports team and individuals who punch above their weight given the relatively small talent pool we have to draw from compared to other 6 Nations rugby countries and individuals like Conor making it to the top when countries like America and Brazil should have the best of the best mma talent and coaching staff to draw from when you compare the size of our countries.
Olympic boxers have also raised the mood of the nation and Katie Taylor being the world champion that easily springs to mind. Thankfully she's still Olympic and world champion but let's keep showing her the love no matter what the outcome of her fights because she deserves it.
The dedication of these individuals and indeed in sports not mentioned in this blog post, is inspirational and makes us believe that things can be better when we are experiencing bad times if we work and strive to better ourselves. So they and their achievements deserve to be celebrated.
Sporting activities have lifted the spirit of the nation during a crisis of recession, austerity and the policies of divisive governments selling out to foreign and corporate overlords.
I have a bad habit of letting negative thoughts come to the forefront of my mind though, and life long habits are hard to break. I wish I could be more confident and strive for my own personal goals even a fraction as much as ireland's great sports stars. But they have inspired me to at least want to better myself and that's a start I suppose.